Some of Washington State’s best halibut fishing
can be found at Coyote Bank, right on the British Columbia
border. In fact, both sides produce well for halibut anglers.
The Purple line in the chart shows the border, which takes a
hard left, giving anglers a good area to prospect for halibut.
As you can see, the blue water is the shallow area of Middle
Bank, while the white water is deeper. Halibut move shallow and
deep, depending on tide and bait. Typically though, if the tide
is strong, meaning it has lots of flow, go shallow. When the
tide is weak, with less flow fish deeper.
Fishing in Canadian waters you will need a
B.C. Saltwater Fishing License. These licenses can be purchased
online, and are good for these waters.
https://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/nrls-sndpp/index-eng.cfm
If you purchase an online license you are
prohibited from fishing Areas 23, 121 & 123. Your online license
will enable you to fish the inside waters of Vancouver Island
all the way to the other side of Neah Bay.
If you do fish Canadian waters, BEWARE! You
MUST call 1-888-CAN-Pass (226-7277) at least two hours prior to
entering Canadian waters if you are a NEXUS card holder. Non
NEXUS card holders, in other words, most of us, MUST call upon
entering Canadian waters. After several phone calls today to
Canadian Customs, they did confirm that ANCHORING in Canada
while halibut fishing is fine. That’s great news for all halibut
anglers. FYI, you can purchase a 1 day, 3 day, 5 day or annual
B.C. Saltwater fishing license.
Effective Apr. 1, 2014 until further notice:
- The maximum length is 133 cm. (52.3622
inches)
- The daily limit is 1.
- The possession limit is 2, only one of
which may be greater than 90cm in length.
- Annual limit of 6 halibut per license
holder as authorized under the 2014/2015 Tidal Waters Sport
Fishing License.
- For each halibut retained by the license
holder, the date of capture, the Fisheries Management Area
from which it was caught and its length shall be immediately
recorded in ink on the 2014-2015 Tidal Waters Sport Fishing
License.
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